We were at ChiTAG with a toy that kids can't get enough of.

We brought two 58-Piece Bilderhoos Play Sets, one painted set and one natural, for the kids to try hands-on building and climbing and taking apart and building again. And did they ever!

Parents having trouble dragging their kids away from the 'hoos is a joy to behold, at least, from the Boss Elf's perspective. Really, I do have sympathy for them (I raised three), but I also know what the remedy is! :)

Building it himself.

We'll have live 'hooses and the fair will supply all the kids! Also, Kieran designed some 'hoos benches that we are sprinkling about the fair.

If you're anywhere near Chicago on Nov 19-20, come see us and say hi! We'd LOVE to see you there.

The playful and photogenic brothers next door, Norman and Henry, love Bilderhoos and are among my very first testers whenever we have something new, or whenever I need some new photos to freshen up the website. And to represent girls everywhere, Edie and Sasha (my accountant's delightful daughters) come over from across the street for the same reason, sometimes with friends.  I'm grateful.

In the coming weeks I'll be asking a lot of all of them!  We're introducing Bilderhoos 2.0 this week, a 58-piece play set that's the same, yet different. It's lighter to lift and carry (easier to imagine loading it into the trunk and taking it to the beach for a day, or even on a car-camping trip in the woods). It is lighter to the eye: it doesn't come in anything but natural wood, but the wood is silver birch which has a groovy sheen to it with tight little burls and we think you'll like it just as it is.  It's every bit as strong and sturdy as the thicker stuff of yore.  

It'll be a slow launch, being orchestrated by just me.  So if you see things that look out of whack on our website, please be patient, check in again in a few days. I don't even have pricing yet, that's how I'm rolling this month. 

The first new photos are up, you can't miss them because they jump out at you from the home page (bilderhoos.com). 

What will happen to the original Bilderhoos? We are wondering the same thing. If you own one, there'll be an opportunity to expand your set before we do anything drastic, like retire it altogether. 

Will keep you posted. :)

Edie inside a super secret play set design that we haven't released, at least, not yet. Maybe I'll tell you about it one day.

We are overjoyed to be part of the Ten Days of Play event going on right now (February 12 - 21, 2016) at The Berkshire Museum in Pittsfield, MA.  

We shipped a 500 lb Bilderhoos set to them last week -- enough 'hoos boards to make a small town or a large rambling play house. Which they did!

Basically, the changes are about color. 

By February 1st we'll be offering an unpainted, unstained natural wood 'Hoos 60 play set, without color, as our main option.  It'll be coated with polyurethane to protect the wood, but no paint or stain.   (We've already updated the 'Hoos 30 variations.)

For DIY'ers, we'll have an unfinished option: precision-cut boards with edges rounded, fully sanded, for a few hundred less. Save some dough and apply your own finish. 

Our traditional 4-color painted sets (Rocket, Sunbeam, Ocean, Grass) will still be available. 

The color/non-color option goes for all of our 'Hoos Add-On boards, too.